There were no gushing press in attendance, no back-slapping LTA coaches court-side and no mention of it on the governing body's website. Liam Broady is 14 - the same age as Laura Robson, who won the Wimbledon girls' title in July - and he became a European champion this week, but for all the notice his victory received, he might as well have been born in another country, as Robson was.

Broady was raised not far from where Fred Perry learnt his trade and there is a streak of Northern hardness in him that was the great man's strength all those years ago. He was crowned European Masters under-14 champion in Orbetello, Italy - a title once won by Rafael Nadal, the world No1 and Wimbledon champion - having been the only British player of either sex in the event. He won it without dropping a set, including victory over Moos Sporken, the No1 seed from the Netherlands, in the first round.

Such a triumph would normally encourage a sustained period of self-congratulation at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, southwest London, but Broady does not train there; indeed, by dint of the dismay felt by Simon, his father, at the LTA coaching set-up and the personnel running it, the family do not receive a penny of funding. The trip to Italy and every journey the teenager takes to compete can be afforded only because the Broadys recently sold their house in Greater Manchester and survive on the equity.

It is a desperate state of affairs and one that goes to the heart of the controlling influence the LTA demands over each and every player of genuine talent. Broady Sr will not accept it, he sees no likelihood of a compromise and so he is out there on his own, hoping that someone might be tempted to back his son's potential. And not only is Broady Jr one of Britain's finer prospects, his sister, Naomi, 18, has improved her ranking by more than 200 places this year to become the twelfth best player in Britain. Naomi is in Australia - where Robson was born and raised - only because her father paid for the trip.

Robson has clothing and racket contracts, a coach, an agent, the run of Roehampton when she wants it and the federation eating out of her hands. Only Liam's rackets are paid for and that deal is up. “The LTA wanted us to fall into line and we won't,” Broady Sr said. “They have made life so awkward for us that I had no alternative but to cut ties with them. I speak to a lot of people in this area who don't even know Liam plays tennis and when I tell them our situation their answer is always the same - that our face and accent don't fit.”